Inside Cisco's Shock and Vibration Lab

DID YOU KNOW the frequency of some vibrations are so fast, they aren't visible to the human eye? #discovercisco

June 04 , 2014

Did You Know is an ongoing series featuring little known nuggets of information behind Cisco's businesses, employees and the technologies they build. #discovercisco

Shaking and vibrating - no matter how slight - can impact the performance of a product. In Cisco's Shock and Vibration Lab, design and packaging engineers test the mechanical toughness of products while they are in development.

Making sure a TelePresence camera can handle the bumps and jumps of a delivery truck or a 2900 series router can withstand a GR-63 Zone 4 earthquake (an earthquake with a potential magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale ) is critical information for developers to know before an order ships across the country or around the world.

In this lab, machines shake, rattle…and drop products all in response to customer demands. It's not just a matter of making sure touchscreens screens are delivered in one piece or solder joints stay tight in hi-powered routers. In some cases, these tests are designed to guarantee life saving communications, carried by Cisco gear, can continue in times of crisis and natural disasters.

Whether a customer is running a data center to support mobile communications around the world or a mid-size company with teams around the country, the robustness and ruggedness of the technology they will use is put to the test here.